Home again, Home again, jiggedy jig!

Well the road trip of a lifetime is a fait complet.
Back to reality. Luckily April was pretty good at the mall and several pieces of furniture sold. Now yard sales are starting and I can hunt for those treasures and get a few pieces of furniture at auction. What a high visiting antique stores and malls along the way. Hit 2 Brass Armadillo stores--Kansas City and Denver. Both rate high above most other malls we visited.
If you are in Hays Kansas be sure to stop in at Northglen Antiques. Owner Susan McRae Bickle is delightful to talk with and her unique goods imported from her buying trips to Scotland are a rare treasure to find at good prices. You can visit her website at www.NorthglenAntiques.com

I was surprised I didn't find much Couroc and Calif Pottery in the shops in California.

Thank goodness for a laptop and wireless access at most motels. I was able to seek out some antique stops and the roadside billboards were great. Certainly an advertising expense well spent. Now if hours were on all signs that would be ideal. Stopped at a store in west Kansas--place where world's largest Van Gogh is--only to find store was closed on Sunday.

Millington Antiques in Albuquerque was a classy site and had a great conversation about shows and markets.

Gas was high everywhere--especially California, but it is as high at home as most places along the way. Don't put off a buying trip or vacation--economize on motels and meals. There are good buys out there. Spend that incentive check at antique stores!

Road Trip Blog

Check out
http://www.roadamigos.blogspot.com/ to hear about my April trip of a lifetime!

Acoma reservation New Mexico USA

certainly the Land of Enchantment!

Spring into ...

Spring is here somewhere besides on a calendar. We expect 1 to 3 inches of snow late today into Saturday. I was talking with a woman who has a sister in the "north of England" who told her she was out in the garden and it was so nice she didn't need a jacket! Weather is getting topsy turvy.

Hope in the next 4 weeks it clears up to a nice spring as we start our road trip west to Monterey.
I've thrown out any expectations of getting to a destination by a certain time or even day. Constraints now are when we leave and we get back. Luckily we all have 2 full weeks vacation time. I keep finding more and more scenic drives, bypasses, sites etc that I'd like to see and we have to stop in Vegas.

Despite the soaring gas prices we are GOING!. May cut into our motel budget and we downscale but, oh well. Carpe Diem!

EBay goes on hold as well as any other antiques business. I hope this could be a "busman's" holiday but I may not have time to shop--oh no, is that blasphemy?

When will it stop?

End of February and yet another 4" plus snow dump. I'm beginning to realize why many people just hate this month. The last several Februaries have been better weather and sunshine-- the lack of sunshine always another complaint I've heard about the month. I always associated lack of sun to November with cold rainy days.
Gee it's snowing even harder/heavier right now!
I've been able to track of sales at the antique mall with every snowstorm. Absolutely nothing on that day and also sometimes the next--depends on when the roads clear.
Thinking when should I call it quits with the delusion of an antique dealer? 2007 wound up with a loss of just under $500 not so bad, but total sales were under $5000.
What's a real business look like? yeah it's only part-time and I'm learning every week and getting perhaps a better eye to what might sell. I started ebay to sell off some of the lesser items. Jan and Feb have been better there. But then new fees and in spring increase in postage bites in. Anyone tried other online auction sites? or part of a group sales like Rubylane?
Can't wait til April 18. Perhaps Paul Reveve started his famous ride that night, well I get to knock off a lifetime goal of driving across country to CALIFORNIA. Getting my road trip cds in order and stocking up on junk food!